New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas on Friday approved the transfers of 25 new police officers to the 8th District, which includes the French Quarter. The officers, who are fresh out of the police academy and field training program, will spend one month in the 8th District and one month in the tactical unit, Serpas said.

"That was to give them more experience," he said. "At the end of the day, they need to be exposed to activity in the French Quarter."

But while Serpas said the new officers have never previously been assigned to a district, official personnel records show that each one was transferred from one of the other seven districts to the 8th District.

That amounts to a loss in staffing for the other districts, said Fraternal Order of Police attorney and spokesman Raymond Burkart III. Each district had been counting on getting at least three new recruits, adding one to each shift, he said.

NOPD officers on horseback patrol on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter in January 2010, after the New Orleans Saints' victory over the Vikings.Matthew Hinton, Times-Picayune archive

"The people in all eight districts have been waiting for this recruit class to come out and serve all eight districts," Burkart said. "While we understand the superintendent's plan, we fear the lack of manpower has only, in many ways, become more glaring when you realize that each of the other seven districts is losing at least one officer per shift."

Serpas said the transfers, effective Sunday, are temporary. But Burkart said many police officers are concerned that will not be the case, because such transfers are usually permanent. He said that for special events, such as Mardi Gras, the Sugar Bowl and the Super Bowl, officers from all over the city are usually "detailed" to help in other districts, not transferred.

"The districts in and of themselves feel they've been robbed," Burkart said. "None of them can afford that now."

The breakdown of the transfers to the 8th District is as follows: four officers from the 1st District, one from the 2nd District, four from the 3rd District, four from the 4th District, four from the 5th District, four from the 6th District and four from the 7th District. Click here to see the NOPD Transfer List 11.30.12 [PDF]

The City Council has appropriated money for two new 30-member recruit classes next year. But Burkart said that may not be enough to get the force beyond its current level of 1,260 officers. During 2012, more than 100 officers have left the force because of resignations, retirements or terminations.

Burkart emphasized the need for more "lateral" hires from other jurisdictions. "We should be working toward 1,500 officers total," he said.